Radars are the sensors that underpin India’s air defence, surveillance and fire-control networks. Most Indian radar systems are designed by DRDO’s Electronics and Radar Development Establishment (LRDE) and manufactured by Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), giving the country a largely self-reliant sensor base.

Surveillance and air-defence radars

  • Rohini and Revathi: 3D central-acquisition radars for the Air Force and Navy.
  • Arudhra: a medium-power radar for long-range air surveillance and tracking.
  • Ashwini: an indigenous AESA low-level transportable radar for air defence.

Fire-control and tracking radars

  • Active electronically scanned array (AESA): the Uttam AESA radar, developed for the Tejas fighter, marks a major indigenous milestone.
  • Long-range tracking: the Swordfish LRTR anchors India’s ballistic-missile-defence early-warning chain.

Specialised radars

India also fields the Swathi weapon-locating radar for counter-battery fire, the Bharani and Aslesha low-level lightweight radars for mountainous terrain, and the Netra airborne early-warning and control system that acts as a flying radar picket.

An integrated air picture

These sensors feed the Integrated Air Command and Control System (IACCS), which fuses radar data into a single air picture — tying surveillance, tracking and weapon-locating radars into a networked air-defence grid.